A Toolkit for Worry: Tip #2 (Why Worry Is Imagination Having a Bad Day, and What To Do About It)
I woke up today with a thought that I was pretty pleased with: “Worry is actually a sign of a strong imagination.” I was so excited at this aha moment that I thought surely I must be the first person to think of it, but no, a Google search proved otherwise. (One of these days…!)
I’ve been reading a bit more fiction recently, alongside the non-fiction fare that I seem to always be snacking on. Stories, plot twists, made-up characters: they’re all part of creativity and imagination, to invent new worlds from existing ones, or to build new stories from the fragmented pieces of life.
And really, what is worry but imagination having a bad day? Walking down a dark creepy corridor to discover something awful at the end of it?
Something about this thought really makes me happy, because I really love being a creative person. I love my active imagination that helps me envision possibilities, build stories, and create outcomes that might not have existed if I didn’t think, dream, or connect ideas.
And, as strengths have their downside, their shadows, the risk if they’re overused, the downside of my active imagination is worry!
A new pain is for sure a sign of impending illness (rather than: bodies get aches from time to time).
That look on my manager’s face surely means layoffs are coming (rather than: my manager was just about to sneeze).
My friend no longer wants me in their life (rather than: my friend has been busy in an all-day meeting so hasn’t had the time to reply to my message)
Here are a few tips for the worrying among us, in case these help reframe worry simply as imagination having wandered temporarily down a dark path:
Notice that you’re imagining a bad scenario, all the outcomes you don’t want to happen. See if you can pause by pressing the brakes on the undesired fear, to also imagine a positive outcome. “I’ve gone worst-case here, I wonder what else might be possible?”
Reduce your consumption of the news. Our brains like evidence, and unfortunately the news can be a source of evidence that bad stuff really does happen. BUT it might not happen as much or as often as the 24/7 media coverage might want us to think. See if you can reduce the amount of news you take in and recognise when it’s not helping you stay on an even keel in terms of your thinking.
Do what you can to get back to the present moment. Stamp your feet on the floor, breathe in and out with some nice exhales, squeeze your own hand, sing out loud, see what you can hear/taste/smell/touch/see in this present moment. As my very wise therapist said to me at a time when I was once spinning, “Notice that in this very moment, all is ok enough.”